1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to paint intake devices and more particularly pertains to a new apparatus with multiple paint intakes for providing a painting professional with the ability to draw paint from more than one container before having to reposition the spray painting equipment to draw from additional containers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Painters typically obtain paint in a can or bucket container that has a lid or a smaller cap that is removed to access the paint in the interior of the container. While consumers typically purchase paint in one gallon cans, professional painters involved in large painting projects often obtain paint in larger five gallon buckets. Over the course of a project such as the painting of the interior of a residential house, the paint from several of the five gallon buckets may be applied even in a single day. If a primer coat is to be applied initially, the total amount of paint to be applied can double or even triple. Thus, over the course of a single day on a single painting project, the painting professional may switch between several of the five gallon buckets for a supply of paint.
Often the painting professional will use a paint spraying apparatus to apply the paint, and this is especially true for large projects. The paint spraying apparatus often includes an intake structure for drawing paint directly from the paint container. A typical paint intake structure is designed to cantilever over the top of a paint bucket with a flexible tube extending downwardly for positioning in the paint container. As each paint container is emptied, the painting professional must discontinue painting and move the paint intake structure from the emptied container to a container with more paint. The painting professional may also have to perform additional activities at each of these changeover times, including removal of protective gear. This process may be repeated a number of times during a day, especially at high paint application rates. In fact, at one typical paint application rate, a five gallon container may be emptied in a period of as little as 15 minutes.
If only for productivity reasons, it is thus desirable to minimize the number of times that the paint intake structure must be moved from paint container to paint container, and the resulting interruptions in the painting process that are caused by having to change between containers. One approach would be to increase the size of the paint containers, but the paint-filled five gallon container is likely the maximum container size that can be regularly lifted and moved by a painting professional without increasing the risk of physical injury. The solution to this problem has there been elusive.
The apparatus with multiple paint intakes according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a painting professional with the ability to draw paint from more than one container before having to reposition the spray painting equipment to draw from additional containers.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of paint intake devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new apparatus with multiple paint intakes construction wherein the same can be utilized for providing a painting professional with the ability to draw paint from more than one container before having to reposition the spray painting equipment to draw from additional containers.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a housing defining an interior chamber and a plurality of elongate support legs mounted on the housing for supporting the housing in an elevated condition above a surface. Each of the support legs has opposite ends, and each of the support legs has a passage formed therein extending between the opposite ends of the support leg and being in fluid communication with the interior chamber of the housing for permitting fluid to be drawn through each of the plurality of support legs and into the interior chamber.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
One significant advantage of the present invention is the ability to draw a fluid such as paint from a number of containers to thereby reduce the number of times that the apparatus must be removed from an emptied container and replaced on a container with paint.
Another advantage of the invention is the capability to draw fluid simultaneously from multiple containers to provide a mixing of the paint from each container to obtain a more uniform and consistent paint color and minimize any paint shade variations that may occur from container to container.
The advantages of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.